Brandon Boykin

Yes as a former coach I know you need players exactly like that . You need a WR like that big time because most are divas and cant or won't block. Most can't or won't play ST'S. . We have 1 who can do both and can step up and be a good WR if needed exactly why he got a 3 year deal.

As far as Boykin goes I just look at his tape compared to our other CB'S he looks quicker in and out of breaks,he trails WR'S better, he has a faster recovery time, he breaks on the ball quicker .The Coaches simply made a mistake by not playing him or they had beef . Either way we suck at the CB spot and the only CB on the roster clearly better on tape is Gay .

 

Even weirder is there seems to be a code of silence when Boykin gets mentioned in free agency, no body can figure out why he isn't signed yet.....

http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.co...-wrong-with-former-steelers-cb-brandon-boykin

 

You don't see coach/GMs in Superbowls because there aren't many.

It did work for Bill Walsh, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells etc.

Dynasties have been built by the above GM/coaches.

Choosing just Chip Kelly as an example of why it doesn't work won't cut it especially when he is 26-21 as a head coach.

Kelly did lose the locker room because most players reported he is arrogant (including Boykin). His other big failure was in securing a franchise QB which has sunk countless GMs.

 

But, would Tomlin be a good GM? I think the clear answer to that is NO, and did colbert let tomlin talk him into signing vick and jacoby jones last season? If so, Colbert needs to tune him out in the future.....

 

I can figure it out. Boykin sat most of the year on one of the worst secondaries in the NFL. Two teams have limited him to slot duties only and that is how he will be seen the rest of his career (while every Seattle slot corner gets bumped to outside on other teams).

So teams look at Boykin as not good enough to start over one of the worst corners in the league in Blake (although he played the 2nd most snaps at corner on the team after Gay was moved outside), and as unable to play outside.

It doesn't help that his DC offered Boykin's inability to learn the defense as the reason he was benched.

Boykin's value plummeted last year.

 

I don't think Tomlin would be a good GM because he seems biased towards and against certain players rather than focusing on their merits only.

However, Tomlin was 100% right in pushing for Bell and some other players. The Steelers dysfunctional secondary is what drives the perceptions that Tomlin can't evaluate talent because that is his specialty but he has made some smart choices in other areas.

 

I dont buy that he couldnt learn the defense, he came here from a 34 D, even if that were true I cant believe it took 13 games before he got to play any significant time, and he says he can play outside, whats wrong with giving him a chance to play outside to see if he can play there, like I said something isnt jelling when it comes to boykin, resign him and let him play for christs sake......

 

I agree with you 100%. Boykin was solid and our second best corner.

What is more confusing is that the Steelers aren't high on Blake. He signed for next to nothing with the Titans. 1 year 1.5M but they can cut him before June 1 for a dead cap hit of 200K according to over the cap.

Even Blake knows he's bad haha.

 

Well he only played in a very few games at the end of the season, so we dont know if he was our second best corner, comparing him to our other corners who played for the whole season is unfair to him, I would have liked to have seen him play in 16 games instead of 3 regular season ones to know what he could really do...

 

34 or 43 doesn't really matter for a corner. The coverage matters. It's either man, cover 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Also whether or not a team plays off man, press man, trail technique, all of that matters too. It is very viable that despite both teams playing a 34 that our coverage scheme is vastly different from Philly's. It is very possibly that Boykin had trouble learning our coverages and defensive playbook. He didn't have a full camp with us, and not every player is capable of learning all of that in such quick order.

The "something" that isn't jelling with Boykin was probably exactly what the coaching staff said it was. I don't buy conspiracy theories that Tomlin has favorites, or Boykin had to do something extra curricular to piss off the coaches. What he likely did that upset the coaches was not fully grasp the playbook in enough time to play him early in the season. This is professional sports. The coaches get paid to win games, and could find themselves out of a job in short order if they stack up multiple seasons in a row without winning. This past season was very likely a high stress season for Tomlin since he hadn't won a playoff game in 4 years and went 8-8 in the two middle seasons of that stretch. I find it ridiculous that he would hold a better player down simply out of spite. That didn't happen.

Now to Boykin. I wouldn't mind resigning him. I wouldn't mind playing him if he earned the spot too. But singing him and just throwing him out there as a starter could be dangerous. It's pretty obvious that he isn't a boundary corner. He's been two places now and neither team even gave him a chance. That likely means he isn't even close to being capable outside. So that leaves us with the slot. We like playing Gay in the slot. He does a very good job there (he does a good job outside too). We have Golson who we are very high on (we spent a second round pick on him). I'm thinking Golson might get a look outside, but his lack of height usually means that he will end up being an inside corner. There's a possibility that at some point during the season Boykin is our third best slot corner.

I think a small money deal for one year would be a decent deal for us to get Boykin. He would essentially just be the slot corner until Golson beats him out, or until the corner we draft in this year's draft wins a starting spot outside. I think that either of those scenarios could happen quite quickly.

 

I think that could be a decent move. I wouldn't want a multi year deal for him tho. One year at a smaller salary would be fine. We wouldn't be forced to start a rookie outside so Gay can play slot and we wouldn't be forced to start Golson at slot. However I hope that the rookie we pick this year can become a starter within this season, and I certainly hope the same from Golson. With either scenario likely sending Boykin to a smaller role or to the bench entirely, I think that one year term is key.

In all honesty I would probably rather spend that money on a spot starter outside like Leon Hall or Patrick Robinson. That way we could put Gay inside in the nickel and keep Cockrell as the outside corner in those situations. That way whoever we pick can compete with Cockrell for those snaps and eventually replace Gay as the outside corner in a year or two. Golson takes over as the slot guy and Gay either stays outside as the #2, or gets passed on the depth chart by another future rookie (or Cockrell if he continues to improve). I think that would be the best scenario for us to overhaul the secondary in an effective and efficient manner.

 

let's not forget this guy yet. http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/03/steelers-futures-report-cb-isaiah-frey/

we will see in preseason but has some decent experience. as this says may be a sleeper we haven't even considered as some good depth. with a draft pick and who we have in golson and grant and cockrell, maybe this kid will stand out and there may be no need for boykin. i wouldn't mind boykin back and maybe with frey we would have a pretty decent group with a draft pick. gay, cockrell, boykin, frey, golson, draft pick, grant as a safety/ corner tweener.

 

Didn't Belichick have Scott Pioli? I know his official title wasn't GM, but......come on we know what he did.

Parcells excelled at building teams period. He set every team he worked with up for a good run.

Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones most likely shared the responsibilities. That's why they throw crap on the other one about who was the GM during the Super Bowl runs.

 

You ain't just whistling Dixie there Diamond. If Tomlin is why we got vick, scooby and raven jones Never I say again NEVER let Tomlin make another FA pick.

 

Yeah those dominant Jerry Jones built teams have been powerhouses in the post Jimmy Johnson era haha.

"In explaining how Belichick manages things, one ex-Patriotspersonnel man said, "I don't know, maybe he has 10 clones of himself." But it isn't all roses. Belichick is involved to the point where it has frustrated his college scouts, who have been overruled in the past on draft picks." --- NFL article 2013

I honestly don't know what Scott Pioli did.

 

I hope the Steelers sign Boykin and let him play. You will be pleasantly surprised.

 

I never said Jerruh was the end all be all. I'm just saying that it was most likely a better collaboration between the two that made it work and egos broke the relationship down.

Yeah, Pioli is a weird situation. I suspect he really just handled the details of contracts and gave Belichick the benefit of his expertise in that area.

 

Ah I get your meaning. Yeah dealing with contracts a coach would definitely need help on.

 

I would rather give Boykin a modest deal longer than a year. I think he's only 26 or so and Gay is getting up there in age and he's already been in the system. The learning curve in our system usually give players problems their first year.

 

Agreed. Boykin played something like 35% of snaps on the year. He really only has the equivalent of 4 or 5 games in this system and he played well.

Also sitting him just crushed his value in the eyes of other teams and he should be fairly cheap.

Boykin seems very outspoken and maybe he is a bad mesh for team chemistry.

I don't think any of is really understand why he sat so long.

 

The problem is that I think it would be tough to get him to sign a multi year deal. It would probably be in his best interest to sign a one year deal and try to up his value for the next FA period. Right now it's pretty low, and it seems like there isn't much interest for him. In order for him to take a multi year deal it would require either a shot at an outside starting job or a guarantee of a starting slot job. He would be given neither of those promises from us, so I just don't see a fit. We have two guys that play slot signed for the next three years. One of which is the best corner on the roster and the other we just spent a second round pick on...

Maybe on a one year deal we can get him back, but in all reality I don't think we will even be interested in that. I wouldn't hate it, but it wouldn't bother me if we just let him walk.

 

Ain't heard much about Pioli since he left either... Belicheat calls em top to bottom guaranteed

 

If Boykin's outspokenness was a problem we would have heard of him getting beat down or him thumping someone else

 

Since there is hardly any interest we should be able to sign him to a modest multi-year deal. We already let one corner walk out the door that we brought up in our system and now we have a known commodity that's been in our system and only can get better. We know for sure what we have in Gay, Cockrell and Boykin. That's our starters. The rest our unknowns and we can let them develop slowly before the bullets start flying.

But all this is moot because I don't think he'll be back anyway.

 

BullCheat, I hate it that we have D-backs sitting on their ass(developing) Then they play year 3 or 4 and sign somewhere else for big money. PLAY them. Grant and Golson should be starters day 1 this year